Expanding My Team - UCLA Health

As they say, it takes a "village," and while I have a healthy tribe of supporters sending love, positive vibes and prayers on a daily basis, I also recently expanded my team of doctors.

Last Wednesday, the day after chemo, Dana and I drove (more like crawled) to Los Angeles to meet with a specialist from UCLA.  This was at the request of my current oncologist,  who wanted me to get a second opinion. The specialist, Dr. Sven DeVos,  specializes in lymphoma and bone marrow transplants. I really respect my oncologist for wanting me to see someone who has more experience than him. He said, "we need this guy in our back pocket, in case the chemotherapy doesn't work." He went on to say that UCLA has access to treatments that Hoag doesn't like Car-T-Cell Therapy (even though I have a B-Cell Lymphoma this is a similar therapy that may work).

Our appointment with Dr. DeVos went well. He shared his thoughts on the current reports from all my scans and biopsies. and then went on to say that that was not good enough. He appreciated reading the other radiologists' and pathologists' reports but wanted to see the actual scans and biopsies for himself. He wanted his "world-renowned" (or whatever word he used to insinuate that his pathologists were better) to view the images and biopsies and write their own reports, he wanted to see everything for himself. This is a good thing. He explained that while I do have Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma - there are also various types, low-grade and more aggressive. He thinks I am on the brink of a low-grade and aggressive type of lymphoma (between 3A and 3B) - but wants to know for sure. I want to know as well. One of the first things he suggested was that we repeat the  PET-Scan prior to  Cycle 3 of chemotherapy. If it is the low-grade type, the PET-Scan will show that a lot of the cancer cells have already been killed by the first two cycles of chemotherapy (yay!). Then cycles 3-6 would just go deeper and kill the rest. If the PET- Scan board lights up, then we know we are dealing with a more aggressive type and can change course, if needed.

As for the idea of a bone marrow transplant, that is the last resort - something we would only do in certain circumstances. There are other treatments that we would turn to if chemotherapy doesn't work or if cancer returns in less than 2 years. It is not returning, trust me. It is not welcome back in my body.

I am having the PET-Scan next week, started the Immunity booster hormone shots (not currently working as I am so sick), and will return to see Dr. DeVos next Tuesday, March 12th. Will update you afterward.  Stay tuned.....#Teammishne! #livelifedetour #bebrave #f@ckcancer